Loose Trim: Columbia City Holistic Health

The Blue Dream had a slightly shaggier "medical" trim -- not a problem for me

Columbia City Holistic Health is a laid back, down-to-earth medical-marijuana access point in south Seattle with two major selling points from the get-go: All its flowers are organically grown, and everything goes for a uniform donation of $10 a gram--a real buy for top-shelf meds. I was fortunate enough to be the only patient when I showed up, but since CCHH only allows one patient at a time (or two, if they come together) in the bud room, you could wait a few minutes if someone gets there right before you.

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Budtender Nate showed me about a dozen strains of cannabis flowers, approximately four each of indicas, sativas, and hybrids. Asked for his recommendations on a sativa and an indica, Nate guided me toward Blue Dream for a daytime sativa smoke when functionality is needed, and toward local strain UW Purp for a nighttime indica known for pain control and rest.

The Blue Dream, while possessing the signature aroma of a strain which rates among the West Coast's most popular, had a slightly shaggier trim than usual--that is, a few more sugar leaves were left on the flowers and the nugs weren't as tightly formed as with most Blue Dream. While a loose trim (also known as a "medical trim," since the additional plant material left on has plenty of beneficial cannabinoids) isn't a problem for me, I do know that some patients seem to have issues with sugar leaves, even though they are in many cases just as trichome-rich and potent as the calyxes next to them (the parts of the flower which would hold seeds if medical cannabis were seeded).

Of course, some patients have gotten so used to flowers that have been not only tightly trimmed, but also kiefed -- shaken and agitated to dislodge some of the THC glands (trichomes), which are then sold for $15-$20 a gram -- that they think un-kiefed buds look "loose." So that's the good thing about a loose trim, boys and girls: When you see lots of sparkly, undamaged sugar leaves on dispensary buds, you know those buds haven't had their potency reduced by kiefing.

Then there was the UW Purp, which according to legend was developed specifically for medicinal applications by personnel very unofficially "associated with" the University of Washington Medical School. UW Purp's flowers are visually stunning, with gorgeous purple streaks highlighting the emerald green, trichome-rich calyxes. Purp's smell is surprisingly subtle, especially for an indica dominant. But one local expert familiar with the history told me that when Purp was originally developed (in the late 1980s, before medical legalization), strains were specifically bred to minimize smell so as to avoid unwelcome law-enforcement attention.